Academics

The Lower School curriculum provides a rich program that teaches basic skills and draws a young child out. The greatest emphasis is placed on reading, writing and mathematics, surrounded by a broad experiential program. A description of the full program is available through the Admissions Office.

The Basics

Academic basics are the footing upon which an education is built, and it is our primary focus in the Lower School. Rather than getting caught up in the "latest and greatest" trend for teaching the basics, we have held on to time-tested methods. No "whole language" or "whole math"––reading and math are not guessing games. The Heron Basics™ Programs brings students at Delphi to a high level of competence in the fundamentals of reading and math, as well as writing and spelling. With the basics firmly under their belts, students are able to tackle the rest of their education with greater confidence.

Reading

Understanding and interpreting the written word is the primary way in which one accesses the accumulated knowledge of mankind. It has long been the key to a student's education, and despite the use of new media, reading will remain the key. The goal and routine result of the Heron Basics Reading Program is a student who reads well, reads widely and truly enjoys reading. Starting with a solid grounding in phonetics and moving through a broad and intensive reading program, the student is introduced in a personal way to history, science, geography, and eventually, social and political issues.

Delphi’s early reading program works with young students to develop their reading readiness skills in such a way that reading becomes not only easy but fun. Once a student has mastered phonics and the basics of reading, the emphasis is on reading in volume at the correct level. Delphi students tend to develop a true joy of reading as result.

Language Skills

Having the ability to express one's thoughts through the written word is a skill so often lacking, even in the most "educated" of us.

Yet in the worlds of business, science, technology, the humanities, and politics, it is a critical form of communication––one that can sometimes determine success or failure in a career. At the Lower School level, the Heron Basics Writing Program stresses the communication aspect of writing, focusing on penmanship as well as the ability to express oneself through the written word. By the 3rd grade, language skills are being built around poetry-reading and play-acting as the key vehicles.

Mathematics

To understand mathematics is to understand relationships. At the Lower School level, math concepts are introduced seminar-style with focus in the beginning on understanding numerals, quantities and numerical relationships. By the 2nd grade, the student is introduced to Delphi’s unique Math Facts on the Computer program, a self-run program designed to achieve an ever-increasing level of instant response to arithmetic basics. This program continues for Delphi students, at greater and greater complexity, through 8th grade.

Besides ensuring math facts are known cold, the Heron Basics Math Program ensures that every student obtains a solid grasp of math basics and thinks with them in problem solving. A valuable by-product of the program is that it instills a strong sense of discipline and challenges the student to think precisely. We want our students to gain a genuine enthusiasm for mathematics as a real language for resolving problems.

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